Friday, January 23, 2015

Dealing with Controversial Topics

There are controversial topics in almost every field of academic
writing. I’ve always considered political and social topics the most dangerous.
Yes, it is more interesting to do a research on something actual and catchy,
but you should be careful – after all, you are writing an order for your
customer and you don’t want him to get blamed for your work. You should think
of something that will get him a desired grade – otherwise, he or she will simply
find another author.

So, the first thing you want to do when you
start writing an assignment on a controversial topic – ask your client what his
tutor wants. Perhaps, he has some steady views on the chosen subject and
doesn’t appreciate anyone’s attempts to defend other points of view. Or it
could be so that he prefers to be challenged. Be attentive to such details – it
would be unwise to write an essay proving that meat is healthy when your
client’s tutor is a vegan.

No matter what point of view you defend - don’t
make your essay edgy. You could get carried away and hurt someone’s feelings
even if you are on the “good side”. The problem about controversial topics
(especially political ones) – there are always two (or more) sides, and the
defenders of each of them can claim themselves to be right, providing
sufficient supportive facts. That’s why you should never get radical. Mention
the arguments of the opposite side even if you consider them stupid – unless
your task is to prove one point of view by completely destroying the other.

If you chose to be a devil's attorney, for the
God’s sake, don’t get personal. Pick the facts carefully and make sure they’re
objective. Use more numbers and statistics, refer to trusted resources and keep
a cool head.

Controversial topics are something that makes
academic writer’s life more exciting. But if you want to be trusted with such
orders – accomplish them appropriately. Don’t leave any loopholes for your
client’s professor: even if you know how to defend what you wrote, your
customer may not be so aware and we don’t want him to be disappointed about
your work, do we?